Now here’s a trend we could all get behind.
Dallas Stars head coach Ken Hitchcock told members of the media on Tuesday that he wants to “stop the dance” when it comes to revealing information about his injured players.
Via Marc Antoine Godin of The Athletic:“I think we collectively hate playing the game. What I mean by that is we say ‘upper body,’ then you go on the phone, and then you look up things or you go to the doctors, find out what part of the upper body. We try to make your work easier, quite frankly, and so we just don’t like going through the dance.
“It’s just easy to tell you what it is and let’s move forward. It’s just the whole game. It’s an injury, and within two hours after we tell you it’s ‘upper body,’ you know exactly what it is, so why not just tell you? And the players don’t go out and say, ‘He has a broken left pinky and we’re going to go after the pinky.’ Nobody thinks like that. Our feeling is just tell them what the injury is and move it forward and just stop the dance.”
Perhaps Hitchcock, who has been coaching in the NHL since 1995, is just tired of the same old rigmarole he’s dealt with for the past 20-plus years. Reporters everywhere are too.
It’s also likely that most fans would also appreciate a higher level of transparency from the team they spend hundreds on for tickets each night.
Right, Montreal?
Given the mayhem that has ensued for the Canadiens over the status of Carey Price’s lower body, perhaps more teams will alleviate future headaches before they set in by adopting this route.
What is certain is that hockey scribes everywhere just became the biggest Hitchcock fans.
I say this unreservedly and without irony: God bless Ken Hitchcock.#Flyers https://t.co/rQ9gbEQMsK
— Mike Sielski (@MikeSielski) November 21, 2017
For now, if you’re looking for some of the Stars’ state secrets, they can be had on their official Twitter account:
Marc Methot had his knee scoped and he will be out 4-6 weeks. Martin Hanzal is expected to miss 3-7 days with a hand injury. pic.twitter.com/4NRIQRpFh7
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) November 20, 2017
Scott Billeck is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @scottbilleck